One of several things that differentiates the Volvo Ocean Race from racing around the buoys is that the Volvo fleet goes out of sight of land and out at night. It also lasts eight months and not a few hours. Night sailing, particularly in the tricky conditions the leading pack area experiencing, makes it just that much harder.

According to the satellite image today, nasty squalls are moving towards the fleet in an easterly wave off Africa. Squalls are largely unpredictable and frequently occur at night when they are hardest to see. The crews have to rely on their onboard radar to track the squalls around them. While they can provide a short period of stronger winds, rapid wind shifts and sudden increases in wind speed make it hard for the sailors to take advantage of the added wind pressure. As an added complication, squalls often leave large calms to the east, something everyone wants to avoid.

For all its challenges, night sailing can also be exhilarating and beautiful. Campbell Field, navigator onboard Sunergy and Friends wrote a few moments ago, “The stars are out, the moon not yet up. Another reason why we love coming to sea to race yachts around the ocean.” This crew are particularly happy as finally they have gybed for the last time for a few days, the wind has filled in and their speed is back up.

There has been no change in the order during the last six hours. ABN AMRO TWO (Sebastien Josse) is still in second place and is still 93 miles behind leader ABN AMRO ONE (Mike Sanderson). Brasil 1 (Torben Grael) in third place and Ericsson (Neal McDonald) in fourth have both lost few miles to the leader in the last period.

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